Let me start this off with a quick summary of what Bioshock is. Bioshock was a 2007 video game created by Ken Levine and Irrational Games. It was gained high appraise by gamers and critics alike, being a smart, fun, and, above all, new take on the First Person Shooter genre. It departed from the regular tedious, gritty, and repetitive FPS genre by being incredibly a stylistic game with compelling stories and charterers that really hooked the player. To this day it is one of my favorite video games of all time, so you can probably imagine how excited I was to read this "prequel" (I say prequel in quotation marks because certain revelations that are made in the sequel games go against what happens in the book) to the game. And I think I'll just say that I'm kind of happy this book isn't canon in the Bioshock franchise.
The Story: The entire plot can basically be summed up in one sentence: it's a long boring build up to the game. Now granted, a lot of interesting stuff happens in this book that would be enjoyable to read if it weren't thrown together so sloppily. Every plot point is preceded by unnecessary build up, such as calling characters, places, and other things from the game by acronyms (Ace in the Hole=A.I.T.H.) for literally no reason. Also, getting to the next part of the book just feels routine, its a really hollow book. Like I said, plenty of interesting stuff happens in the book, but the execution is done so poorly that it is hard to care. However, I must say that if you don't count to entire Bioshock franchise and stop after the first game, the continuity between the book and the game is well done.
The Characters: I would say that the characters are the highlight of this book. It was interesting to see some of my favorite characters just talk, without constantly worrying about being attacked by a Big Daddy or a splicer like they are in the game. This lets the reader see how characters got to be like they are in the game. Almost every character gets at least some character development. The standouts are Andrew Ryan and Frank Fontaine, the two mysterious antagonists from game. They actually have pretty good character arcs, and the Shirley did a good job of capturing their distinct personalities. The rest of the cast was, understandably, a bit mixed. The characters that were important to the game got development, and the ones who weren't were either used to move the plot along or die a violent death. However I still think that the amount of well written characters outweighs the weaker ones, and were the highlight of the book.
Style: The dialogue, settings, and overall style of Bioshock: Rapture seems to me what a ten year old boy thinks adults talk like. There is also unnecessary cussing and violence, which isn't always a bad thing, but it seems less mature than the video game, and more edgy, which is perhaps my least favorite style in any type of media, written or not. It's really unfortunate, because the original game was the perfect example of a serious yet stylistic game, and the book can't quite replicate it.
Conclusion: People often say that the movie is always better than the book (which I strongly disagree with) but I do think that in this case, the game is better than the book. People say that if you win a bronze medal in the Olympics, you are happier than someone who one silver. I feel like that about this book. It was based off of a great video game and could have been a great book. Parts of it were really good, but in the end it couldn't quite live up to the same level of excellence as the book. I would recommend you to check this book out from a library if you have played Bioshock. Someone who hasn't played the game will likely not have any interest in reading this book, but for die hard fans, it is still somewhat enjoyable.
Final Verdict: Rent it.
Book's Page Count: 432
My Total Page Count: 720
Final Verdict: Rent it.
Book's Page Count: 432
My Total Page Count: 720
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